If Only You Could Know Me
by A Midnight Song
Summary: Edward loves Bella. Jasper loves Bella. And Bella loves both. A confusing love triangle. But what about the boys secret plan? Why is Rosalie hell bent on chasing Emmett? Why does Bella never speak of her parents? So many questions but hazy answers are all that we get. Well it seems falling in love is not an easy job. Especially when past is frowning at you. EdwardXBella, AU/AH...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my very fisrt ****multi chapter ****Twilight fiction. The characters are a bit OOC, actualyy they are totally OOC. But I have tried my best to keep them as gorgeous as ever. I hope my readers would love reading this story.**

**Special thanks to my beta Glamorous Shellz... I would not be able to post it without your help333 **

_**Disclaimer - I do not own the Twilight characters... they belong to Meyer only.**_

**Chapter 1**

Edward glanced at his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time. Sitting in the grand living room of this imperial looking villa was the most uncomfortable feeling he had in his entire 22 year old life. He tried to shift his mind from the disturbing opulence of the place, and his green eyes darted through the large room impatiently, searching for a thing, anything that could help him to relax but nothing seemed to ease him.

The Italianate villa with tiled mansard roof didn't look so marvelous from its exterior, until they stepped inside. They found a lavish exhibition of prosperity and of course a very fine taste. Lush Persian carpet covered marble floorings, replicas of various famous sculptures and beautiful paintings hung in the wall. For a moment he felt they were in a wrong place. Soon an old lady, the maid of the house most possibly, proved him wrong by welcoming them. They were guest to the owner of this house, he understood from what the maid said, was waiting for them.

"This is crazy." He murmured.

"Did you say something?" a cold domineering voice of a female reminded him his duty to obey the lady, just to obey her and not to use the over inquisitive brain of his.

"Who did you say are we waiting for?"

"Her." he sensed a smirk adding a hint of amazement to the word. He looked up on the grand staircase and abruptly stopped breathing.

The girl who was coming down the staircase was probably not the most beautiful girl in this world but to him she was something else. Attired in a knee-length green natty outfit with blue works in it she glided down the staircase looking intently at her guests. She had a thin body, pale white skin bathed in moon light and a familiar sweet looking face. But her eyes; he knew them. Last time he saw them he had found childish joy filled in them, a pair of brown mesmerizing eyes full of light. Today he found that she had eyes that knew how to keep secrets. But what bothered him more was the fact that those eyes knew how to capture a man's soul inside them.

It seemed almost painful to him, to endure her deviously innocent yet dangerous sight that scanned him. It was the second most uncomfortable event he was facing this morning. He felt he was standing on a precipice of oblivion, and his cognizance leaving him slowly. He shifted on his seat awkwardly, turning his surprised gaze away from her.

"Good morning Miss Swan. I am Rosalie Hale from mysterynow&then. This is my assistant Edward Masen." The blonde rose from her couch and shook her hand with the young girl. "Edward, meet Miss Isabella Swan, granddaughter of Grace Katherine Morris."

Edward nodded his head to greet Isabella, who was still observing him. Except for now, her doubts were disappeared and instead amusement took its place. He wished he knew who he was going to face today. "Hello Edward. It's nice to meet you again."

Isabella smirked observing his hesitation. Edward gasped, cursed his best friend, and moved his hand towards hers.

"You know each other?" Rosalie asked arching her brow.

"Yeah... Well we, uh…met last year in Paris." He stammered, almost too scared to say it out loud.

"Yeah, I remember," Isabella whispered softly as she gazed down.

Edward slowly drifted away to the last time he had met Isabella, the same memory which he had buried deep inside the back of his mind, the same memory where he tried to forget the sweet beauty that now stood in front of him even though he never thought this would ever happen.

_They learned a couture suite was reserved for them in the Hotel Mandarin Oriental Paris before arriving there; unlike their other projects all expenses and other responsibilities such as their aliases, local contact numbers, transportations, and necessary information they required to accomplish the job they were recruited for, were bore by their recruiter. The venue was chosen by Jasper. He had a poignant dream to spend a night on the fashionable street of Rue Saint-Honoré which he was finally able to live in. Edward was happy too, as he no more had to watch those weird expressions on his friends face whenever the names of the particular street, city, or the country itself came up in the middle of their__conversations. Both of them were highly satisfied with the arrangements done by Mr. Beckett, personal assistant of their recruiter. _

_They were having a great time there, when they were not planning and arguing about the job. _

_After three joyful days of business and pleasure, one fine evening Edward discovered himself alone. He tried Jasper's new number, and reached the voice mail. He realized very soon that he had to enjoy his evening alone so decided he'd go for a walk._

_He donned his jacket and stepped out of his suite, advancing towards the elevator. He found an old man in his seventies standing in the elevator. By his side a middle aged lady shot him a glare as soon she realized he was staring at her. He quickly shifted his look to the two teenage girls laughing hysterically with their eyes on the screen of their iPhone._

_He looked further left and found a young girl was searching something frantically inside her hand bag. Her auburn hair had covered her face entirely but something pulled him to step forward towards her. In a while she found whatever she was looking for, which was a brown envelope. She raised her head with a small smile of satisfaction, and he noticed a pair of brown eyes in her reflection on the wall next to him. Compassionate sensitive eyes scanning the people around her. Her eyes slowly moved from the old man to him, it took her only a moment to comprehend he was actually staring. She raised her eyes to see his face properly. Sometimes he wondered why some strangers made him feel as he'd been known to them for a very long period. The girl dressed entirely in black gazed upon him as if it were him she was searching for, and finding him out from the indifferent crowd was the biggest mission of her life. _

_That's when he saw the rest of her features. A beautiful sweet looking face, pink lips, slender body, and light make up. The cute girl most probably was a teenager in a holiday. Sporting an expensive handbag and what looked like a designer outfit, she was dressed perfectly for the gorgeous evening in the most popular spot in the city. He sniffed a hint of Dior in the air surrounding her, and finally decided to__break the silence.__  
__"Hello." He threw the dazzling smile that worked magically with women._

_She smiled back, a genuine one displaying her pearl teeth. "So you're a tourist?" she asked him arching a brow. _

_"No, business actually. You are a tourist I think?" _

_"What makes you say that?" she replied, her eyes widened with amusement and surprise. _

_"That." he gestured to the road map and tour guide in her hand. He figured she was enjoying their conversation, however short it was. He intended to take the conversation further to the formal introductions, ignoring his inner voice that chided him about his business trip that did not allow him to get any personal job done during._

_"I'm Isabella by the way." she turned to him at once. _

_"Umm... I'm Matt." he stammered and thought for a moment if it would be too aggressive if__  
__he asked her for a coffee. Or maybe he could ask her if he could be of any help in her sightseeing plans for the evening. They could spend the evening simply talking in the café he spotted the previous day across__the street. Maybe they could plan out something else. His list of probability was getting bigger when she waved her hand in front of him to get his attention, "Excuse me?" _

_"I'm sorry I was... Umm..." he tried to think of something to say. _

_"Lost in your thoughts?" she smiled._

_He felt better as she had washed off the embarrassment that snaked through his consciousness for a moment with her perfect smile, "I was wondering if you could help me finding out a good restaurant or food joint. If it doesn't bother you of course." _

_Stunned, he looked at her face to know whether she was joking but she continued, "Actually my brother had promised me a dinner but he got stuck with a meeting. And I know nothing of this city. You said you're here for business, so I figured you might know about a nice place unless of course, you have other plans," She stopped speaking and waited for his reply. _

_"Actually, I don't know much places here." he spoke very honestly and noticed her brightening smile had faltered. "But I think I know enough to entertain your evening." She beamed at his answer._

_The next couple of hours went talking about a lot of things. Things that were not a least important to any of them. They talked about Paris and the roads they were walking on. How the classical French cuisine had evolved with time and now what were the best dishes they could have. He learnt that she too liked the color black and they continued talking about their favourite movies and music and changed from one topic to another. _

"_Yeah, I'm actually here with a friend, but he left me all alone," he smiled as Isabella laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder as a comfort. _

"_I know how you feel, my brother, he went to this meeting and now without you, I probably would've been sulking around here somewhere, all bored," she laughed which sounded like melody to his ears._

"_Me too," he nodded and felt a little timid to admit it for some reason._

_After a few moments they discussed about the latest fashion trends. She mentioned she never followed any trend as she preferred to have her own style statement,__in which he replied her style suited her personality perfectly. _

_She mentioned she loved trying new things. _

"_How about Japanese cuisine?" he asked nervously._

"_Uhh, that sounds…" she thought hard and finally found a word to say, "adventurous, yeah, I guess, Japanese cuisine, do you want to try it?"_

"_Like, now?" he questioned surprised._

_She nodded with a smile. _

"_Okay, sure, I guess. There's this Japanese restaurant right round the block. I visited the place just yesterday. Do you wanna try that?" _

_They walked to the restaurant where the traditional cuisine was quite different to his taste, and the specialty, grilled eel was something he tried for the very first time in his life. It was a real adventurous experience for him, and he wanted Isabella to try it as well. With a small taint of uncertainty and a large amount of nervousness he showed her the way in the restaurant and opened the door for her. The waiter who served them last evening welcomed him with a big formal smile on his face, and gestured them towards a corner table._

_Edward quickly pulled out Isabella's chair for her to sit._

"_Thank you, Matt," she smiled and he felt weirdly nice. _

_Once they settled themselves, Edward motioned the waiter to take their order and looked at his beautiful partner who was busy observing the décor of the place and its guests.__  
__"So what do you wanna order?" Edward asked smiling._

"_I'm trying this cuisine for the first time today. Why don't you order something good?" she said, her voice sounded candid and amiable to him. He placed almost the same dishes, and asked again cocking his eyebrows. _

_"Would you like to try grilled eel? It's a specialty here." _

_"Eel? As in the fish eel?" she asked surprised. "Umm, okay, why not?"_

_After they had finished their meal, he noticed her __scratching something on a tissue. He looked at her questioningly. She smiled. "I was just trying to get the name of this place inside my head you know. It's uncommon." she stated shyly. _

_He assured her. "I came here with my friend last evening, and the only thing I remembered was the location. And of course the menu." He winked. _

_"You are a foodie yourself aren't you?" she took a sip from the glass of water. _

_"How do you say that?" _

_"From your face. It was glowing when you were placing our order, or when you were explaining me those things about French cuisine." she blushed a little and she looked even more beautiful._

_Smiling, he replied,__"As a matter of fact I am. But I'm better as a chef." He hated bragging, but he was aware of the fact that his cooking skill was really good, and popular among his friends._

_"Is that true or you're just trying to impress me?" she asked playfully. _

_"No, I'm not. Seriously, ask me anything you want. About any dish," _

_She thought for a few seconds, "What is your forte?" _

_"I'm good at Italian. But my forte is pastries." she widened her eyes in shock._

_"Seriously Matt?" he winced hearing the fake name on her lips. Even though he knew it was fake, her spontaneous way of pronouncing it made him feel very real about his alias. "I once tried to make pastry for my brother. It was a disastrous. Actually, it was me. I am a disaster in the kitchen." She laughed her enchanting laugh while he smiled. A sad smile, if she could get it._

_She was speaking a lot on their way back. It was like a good dinner had broken the last barrier of ice between them. She kept talking about what she liked about the restaurant and what not. "They should change the name though. Its hard to remember. Maybe they should use a more common English or semi-English name." she continued, walking slowly through the lobby of their hotel. Edward led her towards the elevator. _

_"Maybe not." he said absent mindedly. "A name is not really important, is it?" He spoke half about him. _

_The next question brought his mind back in the elevator. "But we are not talking about a person here. Are we?" he smiled to face her. "Maybe that name means something to them."_

_"Yeah. Maybe." she murmured lowering her head to the floor. _

_After a moment of awkward silence she opened her mouth again. "What's with the sudden silence?" _

_"Because I'm done doing the small talks with you. I want to talk with you on some real topics of my life. I want to tell you about myself, and want to listen from you about yourself. That's what with the sudden silence."_

_His inner self yelled. But he managed to say something utterly dissimilar to that. "We are about to say good night to each other. And good bye too. Tomorrow we'll be leaving." _

_She stopped for a split second, as if she landed to the real world from her enchanted land. _

_They stood in front of her Mandarin Terrace room, looking into each other's faces. Edward wished this would never end. When they headed for the walk, they didn't think of this. That they would have to part their ways at a certain point. He wished if he could freeze the moment there in front of her room. _

_She was the first one again to break the silence. "Matt, can I tell you something?" he cringed internally when her lips uttered his fake name again. _

_"Sure." His voice sounded almost lost._

_"I didn't like the grilled eel. I'd say it then but you were so enthusiastic about the specialty." _

_He felt that familiar nervousness, and went completely quiet. Reading his confusion and nervousness, she said in a low voice slightly blushing, making her beautiful cheeks go a pretty pink. "I think you should compensate for pushing me to taste something awful." She licked her pink lips coyly. That was an enough hint for him._

_Before his thoughts refrained him to move further, he dived his lips into hers._

…

"Grace Morris? The dancer who allegedly had an illicit affair with the Senator Anthony Graham Hopkins?"

Isabella's eyes widened with anger and the other two noticed how the flames of fury changed her facial expression for just a split second. She composed herself in a moment and smiled.

"I'd prefer to remember her as the very talented dancer who introduced new styles and concepts in the world of contemporary dance, whose biography and works are still taught in different 'so-called' famous dance institutes." She replied confidently.

Rosalie poked him secretly in his ribs, throwing a hint to him with her slightly angry eyes to apologize.

"Miss Swan pardon me for my inappropriate words. It's just the words I read and heard about her came into my mind. I am extremely sorry if I hurt your feelings." he said with a sad expression in his face.  
She scanned his face, doubts in her eyes. But as dazzling he was, she could not help but melt. "And I'm sorry for my words if I sounded rude. You know we idolize gram." She smiled softly.

Rosalie took a breath of relief, as the young girl sitting in the grand sofa in front of her was apparently calm again. "A lot of people do idolize her." Rosalie spoke. "As a matter of fact in my childhood I used to dream of becoming a dancer like her myself. But eventually I found another way to fulfill my dreams." she smiled, which was not so honest.

She was not so sure if her mechanical smile worked well with Isabella, but all she needed now was to calm her and get as much information as it was possible. Putting her file on the center table she took a small sip of her coffee that was served some time back.

The girl peered into the file inquisitively, her face blank. "I can see you already have done full research about her." Bella said nonchalantly.

"Not full actually. I've gathered some information, but they are not enough." Rosalie said handing her the file. "Here have a look."

…

After two and a half hour, Edward was seated back in Rosalie's car. He sighed, a little happy to be out of the grand house where he had been sitting awkwardly in front of a girl whom he had lied to a year ago.

"Let me tell you a story." Rosalie Hale, inhaled deeply and started speaking breaking the silence, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. "In the year 1901, Samuel John Winchester, a famous gemologist of his time, who was rather known for his craftsmanship on making designer jewelleries. He crafted a pendant. A small red ruby connecting two quite big diamonds. Old Samuel was quiet obsessive about his work, and spent all his savings to make that pendant. Going against his brother Dean who was his only family, he gifted the pendant to his girlfriend Ruby." She paused to take a sip of her coffee.

"Ruby, a barmaid, was however not worth enough to own the pendant, or Samuel's love in the first place. The greedy woman sold the pendant to an Italian businessman Damon Salvatore, which got stolen later in the year most loyal associate Niklaus accused Lady Katherine, Salvatore's fiancée, and Niklaus got terminated."

The beautiful editor-in-chief of mysteriesnow& took a sip of her steamed Mocha. She loved sipping hot steamy coffee while driving. She looked as if she was enjoying her drive through the road, which was almost deserted except for a few trucks and passenger cars.

Although her story was interesting enough to create a buzz inside Edward's mind, he failed to get a clear picture how this story was relevant to their trip today. His mind was definitely not in place today. First he had to leave his 'highly' disappointed, fuming girlfriend back home in the mid of their Sunday, then the confusing trip where he didn't get to know a single thing until they stepped into the residence of Isabella Swan. That same Isabella he introduced himself to with a fake identity, left behind in his past, and cherished her memory as the most beautiful one of his short life. As if that was not enough, he had to make stupid comments about the lady who died a long time back, and gain some disappointments from Isabella too. Finally this story came out of blue.

Maybe he shouldn't have accepted the offer. He thought being a freelancer in the online magazine, it was certainly not obligatory for him to join Rosalie in her trip, but being a blind follower of her, Edward lacked the strength to refuse her proposal. The reward was tempting too, as Rose always preferred to add the names of her associates who worked with her in the stories once she publishes them.  
If the story she was working on gets published, whatever it was, it was going to give him a good platform. Most importantly, he assumed this new story to be a really good one, from the tone she asked him to lend her a helping hand.

Rose glimpsed to her confused employee from the corner of her eyes and asked with a chuckle, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm sorry if I sound like an idiot again, but I can't follow where you are going. What has Sam Winchester's pendant to do with Isabella Swan?" Edward questioned back, his voice low and not so confident. He spotted a smirk on her lips.

"Well, it has nothing to do with Isabella herself, but she is an important link to us right now. Cause I recently found some information from a reliable source, which proved a connection between that pendant and our handsome senator who was crazy for her grandmother." She rolled her eyes putting some extra pressure in the last word she spoke, and turned to Edward. "There is a strong possibility that he gifted that pendant to his girlfriend. Apparently, Lady Grace got famous for all the wrong reasons."

"And we are going to find the right reason?" Edward straightened in his seat with his eyes gleaming with the joy of finally getting to the point. Rosalie too looked amused and switched on the radio. Their car sped up to a faster pace as Edward looked out his window and sighed for the hundredth time that morning.

…


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: The characters belong to Meyer only..._**

**_..._**

**_Bella:_**

Isabella jumped on her bed, a shriek escaping her throat. After bouncing exactly four times on her large four poster queen size bed she hopped out of it, and looked around her room. Her very own room, where she was born in a sunny morning of April, and had been spent the next twenty years after that day, seemed to be a new place to her.

Why didn't she notice that golden hue on the off-white walls before this morning? The photograph of her and Emmett's that was taken in her fifteenth birthday looked brighter than before. The red flowers Dorothy had plucked from the garden early in the morning were placed in her favorite vase. She decided to ask Dorothy the guests names again. Though she had done that countless times before, she somehow managed to forget the names within the next fifteen minutes. Today she was convinced she would remember.

A breeze from the garden waved the floral printed curtains joyfully, as if they were dancing seeing her cheerfulness. She started dancing too around the room, encircling her bed and the small round table in the middle of the room. A round or two, then she ran to the lofty double pane window to the top of her bed and sighed lurching on it.

She was lingering in her bed in the morning, thinking of the misery of waking up early in a Sunday morning that she had brought on herself. Even Dorothy looked unhappy and troubled by her decision of calling them that early. Emmett was coming around 6 o'clock the same evening, and to say Dorothy was excited about his arrival was going to be an understatement. And between everything, the news of her journalist-guests had splashed cold water on her enthusiasm.

"Bella… Couldn't you meet them some day else?" Dorothy said while serving her morning tea.

"No Dorothy. I'll be busy the entire week. And you don't expect Em to talk to them, do you?" Bella smiled politely to ease the old lady standing by her. Bella knew what was going to work the best. She rose from her chair and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry nana. I should have asked you before fixing the appointment."

The lady, who had come to their house as a Nanny, had managed to fill their mother's place after her untimely death. If anything was of more importance to Bella and Emmett than their own lives it was Dorothy's well being. "I didn't know this sudden meeting will put you in such trouble." Bella whispered, resting her chin on her nana's shoulder.

"It's not the sudden meeting that's troubling me sweetheart." Dorothy replied and added with hesitation, "But you don't think about it. And you needed to apologize. Have your breakfast first, and then get yourself ready to meet them. You can't introduce yourself to them like this."

Bella giggled. Little did she know who was coming to meet her.

…

Edward's surprised green eyes, filled with unreadable emotions made her laugh once again. It was hilarious, almost to the level of agony to remain composed in front of the blondie. She didn't like her, the perfunctory way she was speaking, her fake smile; false praises were driving her crazy. And Matt, whom she introduced as Edward Masen, his impatient gaze was taking her breath away just like what happened that wonderful night in Paris.

Nana had picked a bright red dress from her wardrobe. "Here, you should wear this." She, as usual crooked her nose. "But it's too... Too much." She spoke with a frown and went back into the wardrobe.

"Don't forget who you are. They are coming to interview Lady Grace's granddaughter," Nana continued while searching for the perfect dress.

"Fine. Murder me then." Bella rolled her eyes.

"And be careful of what you're speaking about." Dorothy went on, her head swallowed inside the wardrobe. "I don't believe these journalists. God knows what they are going to ask. These people are not to be trusted Bella. Once a word slips from your tongue, they'll start tracking you." A small smile escaped from Bella's pink lips.

"Oh nana. I'm not a celebrity that they'll start tracking me," she laughed.

"But your gram was." Dorothy replied and pulled a green dress out of the wardrobe with beaming eyes. "This is perfect," she handed over the dress and smiled widely.

Bella's mind was filled with various questions, and worries about the upcoming meeting that she didn't even look at the dress properly. Dorothy was right. Lady Grace and her stories were not easily forgettable. Especially the car crash that killed her made her life story an epic. She wished that topic would not come up.

The very expected expression came from a much unexpected person. While landing on their living room, she was suspecting her own consciousness. She looked intently at the familiar emerald eyed man that sat in her living room, he looked shocked.

She smiled again. She appeared in an elegant, dignified manner, the way Dorothy told her to, the way she was supposed to be like, as much as it was possible for her. Watching Matt in pain was funny, and talking with the blonde was disturbing. What was her name again? She thought for once. Rosalie Hale. Her list of questions and queries were quite long. Dorothy kept visiting them, in order to follow whether everything is going well. Whether she was saying something that she must not. According to herself, she had done a good job today with Rosalie. But she was confirmed she had done a great job dealing with Matt.

Rosalie had done a good research on grandma. She thought with a suppressed irritation. Rosalie was very careful to avoid the issue of Senator, although Bella got that very familiar vibe she used to receive from the journalists in her childhood. Rosalie, she had no doubts about it, was very much interested in digging the old, buried issues once again. The worst problem was, the blonde witch turned to be really persuasive. She was the one who convinced Emmett for the interview, the same Emmett who had been the great wall to them, protecting her and nana from their rough attacks when the second big accident took place in the family. Bella imagined the picture of her brother and Rosalie standing together, Rosalie with her persuasive smirk, Emmett grinning sheepishly next to her... The picture made her feel uncomfortable for a split second and secretly shuddered.

She jerked her head, as if to throw off the annoying thoughts and images. She had no room for bad things now in her life. At least not today.

"Is he going to call me?" she said, looking at the girl in the mirror before her. Being airheaded at the moment, she didn't realize her mechanical legs had brought her in front of her dresser. She gazed towards the girl inside the mirror, and surprisingly, she had a pink hue in her cheeks and ears. When did that come? Her large brown eyes were glowing with something she failed to recognize. Was this how she looked that night, when he kissed her?

Her mind was set in a roller coaster since they left. One moment she was back in her childhood, thanks to the blondie. Next moment she was in the luxurious hotel in Rue Saint-Honoré with the handsome guy. One moment she was dancing with joy, next moment she was feeling shy watching her blushing face. Oh Matt... What have you done to me? She twisted her head and hands, and hummed a song.

That night he was looking a bit lost. God knows why he was not entirely with her. Maybe it was the business that took him there. When her eyes locked with his in the elevator, an electric wave stirred her inner self in a way that never ever happened to her. He felt it too, she could say certainly. But still there was something, some invisible wall standing in between that she couldn't see or touch, but Matt was aware of. And he was very cautious not to break the wall. She tried her best, to touch him, to know him. But the wall between them. She sighed and walked to her bed. She lay on her back at once, looking vaguely to the lofty ceiling in her room; resting herself on the soft lush sheets

The grilled eel turned out to be the perfect excuse to hit the wall. She was still not sure if it was broken, but it was definitely cracked.

Dorothy bustled into her room with a hurried pace, her face wore an anxious expression.

"Bella? Where are you? Is everything alright?" she was going to scold her, but instead stopped immediately, spotting her laying on her bed. "Are you hurt? I heard a noise? Were you dancing again?"

Bella didn't reply, but asked a question that sounded peculiar to the old lady.

"Do I look beautiful nana?"

She frowned, but answered anyway. "What sort of question is that? Of course you do. You are beautiful Bella." Bella didn't look satisfied with her reply.

"Not the way a mother looks at her daughter and says you're beautiful. Am I really beautiful? Like the ones people remember and adore?" Bella sounded like a kid lacking self confidence.

Dorothy looked amused. She had got the matter clearly. She sat by her on the bed, and ran her fingers on her silky hair, "Yes. You might not be tall as your mother, or have the golden locks like your grandma, but that doesn't change the fact that you are beautiful. You're born with the same grace that made your mother and grandma popular. And once someone looks at you, he never ever could forget this face."

All she needed were those words to lit her eyes once again. "Really nana?" her nana nodded with a soft smile.

"Does this question, by any way, has anything to do with the handsome journalist kid?" Dorothy asked, very cautiously. Her eyes scanned Bella's face when she turned to her, and she asked again. "What was his name?"

"Umm... Edward. Edward Masen. No nana. It's just..." Bella stammered. She was not good at the art of telling lies. Especially to her loved ones. How could she hide the happiness that Matt had brought to her?

Suddenly, her inner eye shot open.

Rosalie introduced him as Edward Masen. That doesn't explain how he got his name Matt. It doesn't explain why he was trying to remain aloof that night, even though he liked her.

"Better then. Bella, these journalist people are not to be trusted. You'll never know when they'll use you, and gain business from..."

Bella stopped her curtly. "Nana. This is the third time you said that line today. I remember it all." She wanted to make her stop saying those negative words about Matt, but Dorothy looked hurt and regretted saying it, "Besides," Bella added, playing with the gold chain in her neck. "I know you're there with me. What harm could they cause to me when I have the strongest nana in the world?" she rose and hugged her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Don't worry nana. It's fine."

Sometimes she couldn't understand the lady she'd been with since her childhood. At a moment she appeared absolutely strict, and the next moment she was melt like chocolate. She saw her walking out of the room looking slightly satisfied.

"Hey nana." she stopped her with a naughty grin. "Have you ever tried grilled eel?" she received a scowl as expected. Bella rolled in her bed again, giggling.

Nana left the room with the same hurried pace she came in. Before leaving, she had placed a question in Bella's mind, the same question that eventually restrained her spontaneous giggles. Why did he tell him a wrong name? Was that somehow related to his strange behavior? He has a lot to explain next time. But how was she going to see him again? Since Rosalie is serious about her story, she'll definitely call her again for her help. But that doesn't mean she'll bring her assistant each and every time. Or maybe he himself will call her? If he doesn't, she will have to do something. But what? She started pacing through her room, up and down.

Maybe she should just call him, without much thinking of anything else. No. As conventional he seemed that evening, he wouldn't consider that to be an appropriate step. He should call her.

Yes. That's right. She finally came to an acceptable conclusion.

He should call her.

**…**

_**A/N: Bella clearly is liking Edward. But Dorothy isn't. Keep on reading to know why.**_

_**Thanks a lot for reading:)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_****__**Thanks to my beta Glamorous Shellz for helping me with this fiction.**_

_**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, none of the characters belong to me...**_

_**...**_

_**Jasper**_

"Just call her already!" Exasperating beyond his limits of controlling himself, Jasper finally yelled on Edward.

_One hour ago…_

Annoyance is the most contagious state of mind. Jasper realized that as soon as Edward stormed into the room.

His nostrils flaring saddened red eyes, and his face pale and lifeless. Completely unable to form a coherent sentence.

"It was her. Granddaughter of Grace Morris. Can you..." Edward huffed. "Can you even imagine?"

Jasper was amused to find out a girl was the reason behind his friend's mental instability. As much as he knew about this guy, girls made him shy and tremendously nervous. The way he stammered in front of Tanya when he introduced her in a party, that still made Jasper chuckle. He wandered what a gorgeous girl like her saw in Edward that they became a couple.

Today, watching Edward, he realized the scenario was almost the same, though from Edward's meaningless ramblings he failed to comprehend what he meant. So Jasper tried to light up his mood instead of asking anything about the confusing matter that was visibly biting him.

"You know I just had my lunch. Had you come a little earlier you could have joined us." Jasper spoke lighting a cigarette. "Mom cooked her best today."

"I am not hungry. Please could you listen to me seriously? And when the hell did you start smoking again?" Edward replied a little irritated.

Jasper smiled and started making rings of smoke, looking into his laptop as he rsaid. "It's difficult to think without this." he exhaled and looked at Edward who was leaning against the study table. Edward stared at him blankly.

"You know we have a new case to work on," Jasper spoke to break the silence since Edward was not talking.

"To hell with your case Jasper! I'm..." Edward stopped mid way.

"Totally fucked up?" Jasper felt that familiar amusement once again, seeing him glare. "So two questions. Who's the girl who fucked you up? And did you just said Grace Morris? As in _the_ Grace Morris?" Jasper finally dumped the burnt cigarette in a copper ash tray, and seated himself in a couch, placing his Mac book on his lap. He heard Edward taking a deep breath, which caused Jasper to smirk while typing his MSN id and password.

"You remember that girl I met last year in Paris? I told you about her, right?" Edward spoke slowly.

He did tell him. And he remembers the incident well enough. Apparently that chick was the only one who managed to deal with Edward without making him shy or diffident, or worse, leaving himself embarrassed. And the idiot didn't even care to ask for her number. He had snorted away Edward's noble reason for not getting 'close' to her, using aliases and all. Referring that chick reminded him of the cute little blonde fashion model he was with that evening. Wasn't she just stunning? Jasper smiled, and controlled himself at once in order to listen to his friend.

"You mean that 'sweet-angelic-teenager' who was dumb enough to waste a full evening with you?" Jasper said ignoring Edward's glare.

"Today Rose took me in a meeting. And I found her. It was her who Rose went to see."

Now that was a typical situation out of a romantic novel, Jasper thought, and straightened his back. The last words had got him alert. He tilted his head a bit and asked. "So is she a supermodel?"

"No. She's granddaughter of Grace Morris. Yes. The answer of your second question is, yes. _The _Grace Morris."

Jasper felt a shock, pushing him out of his couch, his jaw dropped. "Wait, what?!"

Edward replied softly, "Yeah. You got that right."

"The famous dancer who had an illicit affair with a senator?"

"Senator Hopkins." Edward muttered.

"Dude." Jasper left his laptop on the study table back and started pacing up and down the room. "So how did it go? Did she recognize you? Did she say anything?" he asked with his face gleaming, unable to hide his excitement.

"That's what's disturbing me the most. She didn't say a single thing about that evening," Edward stated flatly.

"So you mean she didn't recognize you?" Jasper said, though it sounded unbelievable to him. Edward was anything but easily forgettable. No chick could forget him in just a year, especially who had kissed him.

"She recognized me, gave me this look which meant I-still-remember-you, but didn't bring up anything," Edward's gaze turned to the floor.

Jasper gaining his stability after a brief silent period tried hard not to laugh at his friend but failed completely. He's a complete idiot.

"Rose was there too with the both of you?" Jasper asked after he got his laughing in control.

"Obviously. She was there to interview her. Would you please stop laughing?"

"Yeah, sorry," he chuckled one last time and got serious. "And you expected her to... What's her name by the way?" he gave Edward a questioning look.

"Isabella Swan." he repeated her name under his breath feeling the elegance of it in his tongue and resumed.

"Did you expect Isabella to bring up the topic about how you two made out in a hotel in front of Rose?" he gave him a weird irritated look.

"You just don't understand Jasper."

He really didn't understand, what's the point of creating unnecessary complications in such stupid things?

He jumped to his laptop, opened a new page in his browser, and within a moment he was in his desired place, the Discovery channel homepage. Browsing through the archives he glanced to Edward from the corner of his eyes, and asked him very honestly. "What's your problem man?"

"I don't know what I should do now."

"I have a cool solution. Call her." he said concentrating on the sites he'd been searching regarding his subject of interest.

"I can't do that. What would I say? Hey Isabella. Let me introduce myself with my real identity once again. Maybe after that we could go for a coffee?" Edward said bitterly, mocking Jasper.

"Glad I influence you this much." Jasper murmured, narrowing his eyes which were fixated on the screen. "Or you may try saying, Hello Isabella. Life is full of unexpected twists isn't it?" Jasper mocked Edward back.

Edward frowned at him, "Who on earth talks like that?"

Jasper grinned, "A lot of people do. Now if you could come back to your usual self, I can talk about something else."

Jasper waved his left hand gesturing Edward to look on the screen full of images and information which Edward seemed reluctant to do but still did.

"Born in 1925, she had her first public performance in a tender age of 17. Next year she got married and quit dancing temporarily. Came back in the year 1946. The next two years made her popular as a professional dancer." Jasper read out aloud, both of the boys beaming with curiosity and interest to know more. "She met Anthony Graham Hopkins in the year 1948, while he and his family attended her show."

Edward whispered in his ears. "Maybe that's when the affair started."

"Love at first sight huh?" Jasper played a wicked grin. "So this Miss Isabella Swan, is she as stunning as her grandmother?" his grin turned into from wicked to cocky, he eyed the blonde dancer's photographs. "She definitely looked like a beautiful swan."

"Well, Isabella looks more like..." Edward stopped again. Jasper looked at him mocking his dazed expression. Edward seemed lost to him.

"Dude just call her."

Clock went on ticking, time passed, and Jasper listened to Edward rambling for the next forty five minutes. He couldn't just call her. She could ask him a lot of question. He couldn't lie to her. He doesn't want to lie. He was confused. At a point, he came to Jasper, tired and disoriented. "What should I do now?" as if he was going to accept his advice.

"Just call her already!"

Jasper was keen to think about his case rather than Edward's heart problem. Apparently that was not possible with Edward whining and strolling over the room rattling the same questions over and over again.

"What I really don't understand is, why are you complicating this matter? You met a girl, had a cute moment with her, now after a year you met her back. So now the only thing you should do is to call her. That's it." Jasper growled, frustrated. "Just call her!" he yelled.

"It would be that simple if I had told her the truth but I didn't. Even today I met her as a journalist, who was to interview her. What if she thinks I'm calling her because I want this story to be done successfully?"

Jasper stayed quiet for a moment. Edward had a valid reason. But how could he predict what Isabella would think if Edward calls her? He did know very little about the meeting that evening, and he was not aware of what kind of person this Isabella was too. He didn't know if she was an emotional one like his friend, or if she was a light hearted person who gives a damn about what others think. He didn't know if she throws out shy smiles, or burst out into loud jovial laughter that changes the air.

He could just keep guessing that she had a sober and fine taste on everything, or else Edward wouldn't be having interested on her. So most probably she had no funky looks, or disturbing attitudes. _Damn_. Jasper scolded himself. _You are already fantasizing about a chick you haven't met yet._ _A chick that's driving your best buddy crazy._

"Don't you think you should at least give it a try?" he asked once again.

"No. I think I should leave it where it ended." Edward whispered with a sigh.

**...**

_**A/N: Edward is being a stupid. Yes I know that. But he has his reason of doing so. So if you are irritated by now, please trust me and my Edward and you will love him at the end.**_

_**Thank you for reading.**_


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